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Bike size restriction for flying JAL

O

onrbikes

Warming-Up
Sep 4, 2023
3
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We're just finishing our 3 month Japan tour and flying out this week from Haneda terminal 3

We're flying to Perth on a Qantas flight but it starts with JAL codeshare flight.

JAL has a 203cm size while Qantas has a more realistic 250cm linear size.
Have packed the bikes dozens of times all over the world, but this is the first time we have size issue. Word is JAL can be a bit particular.

Would we be OK because we have a Qantas ticket and they'd use their dimensions?
Any recent experience in flying OS with bikes?

I also have the option to bag then wrap cling around the bike.
Or box it and then wrap it. I have boxes already and can easily transport on the back of the bike.
Have done both techniques previously, with no damage.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.
We'll be cycling to the airport and packing there so won't have any taxi or bus issues.

Thanks
 
With regards to codeshare flights, it the rules of the operator that flight that supercede others. If you mean that you're doing a transit flight from Japan to Australia, then flying on, then afraid it's the JAL rules if they're operating the flight.

I would take off front / back wheels, and make the bike as small as possible if you can. I'd then wrap and box it up to make sure there is minimal chance of damage to the bike.
 
The wording on their website is "may" but in reality you should have zero issue if your bike is packed in a standard case like a scicon or a "standard" cardboard box that new bikes come in. The only issue is how much or if you will pay for oversized.

Do your best to keep it under 20kg for the bike box weight.

In the past I do recall emailing JAL with a headups that I am flying with a bike, but that was a number of years ago. If you can get their email/contact, it would be wise to do the same out of caution.
 
I've emailed them but as yet no reply, but yes I also saw the word "may". We travel with bikes regularly and know its dependant on the person on the day. Best get in early before the demanding travellers start giving the check-in staff a hard time.


Someone has also referred me to JAL campaign in allowing bike boxes of the larger size.
It's been extended to 2024 and he was allowed a few ago while flying to Honolulu.

We'll see how it goes.
Thanks
 
Having flown across continents with my bikes several times, I would echo @Trek DJ's recommendation: make sure to call the airline in advance, give them weight and dimensions on the phone, and be early. We moved from Japan to Europe this summer and we had 8 suitcases and 2 bike boxes. It took a long time, but once the airline personnel in Sendai understood we had all of our ducks in a row, it was smooth sailing. (Initially, they claimed the bike boxes were too big, but then they checked and to their credit immediately changed their tune. I don't think they see much international travel with bikes to be fair.)

I haven't flown with JAL (with or without bike), but you can make bike boxes/cases only so small. I would not cling wrap my bike, though. I generously padded bike boxes with bubble wrap, bike wear and towels. Pro tip: when I arrived in Munich I saw two athletes who had put two rollers and a strap to pull on a sturdy simple bike box. That made handling their bike boxes much easier.
 
Have just gone through Haneda international with bikes. Sept 9th. 2023
We get in the JAL queue at 7:25am for a 11:30am flight. 4 hours ahead of time.
2 bikes in boxes at 24kg each and a single 10kg checked bag. A total of 58kg for 2 persons on a single Qantas airline ticket. We're allowed 30kg each. The girl questions if we've already paid to fly with the bikes.
The girls measure and in the end we have to pay 4kg for excess weight. The bikes are linear 240cm
We've always been able to share our baggage, but not here.

The girl gives us the option to remove 4 kg into another bag, but the bag is tied and wrapped in cling wrap. Because it's taken us 2 hours to go through the queue and checkin, we pay. The immigration queue is also long and think we may be late.
In the end we have an hour to spare.

About 10000Y.
Oh well another lesson learned.

Thanks
 
Just bought an Orucase in hopes of being able to travel with my bike without extra charges. But who knows. Sounds like a crap shoot whether you get charged or not.
 
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